...
[INTRO – both, very slow | dark acoustic guitar, deep Southern groove, distant harmonica]
[MALE VOICE – deep, rough, exhausted]
I rode all night with the devil at my side,
Black dust on my boots, blood-red moon outside.
I ain't asking Heaven, I ain't begging Hell,
Just looking for the woman who knows me too well.
[WOMAN'S VOICE – warm, smoky, but powerful]
I heard your wheels long before you came,
Like a funeral train calling out my name.
You carried your sins like a cross through the rain,
But I loved you once, and I'd love you again.
[BOTH – quietly, almost whispered]
We were born where the black roads bend,
Two lost souls with no road's end.
[VERSE 2 – MALE VOICE | Drums kick in heavily]
I stole from the rich, I lied to the law,
I slept with a pistol beside my jaw.
Every town knows the outlaw I became,
But you were the only one who called me by my name.
[WOMEN'S VOICE – increasingly emotional]
You came home broken, half dead, half wild,
With a sinner's heart and a wounded child's.
I washed your blood from the old front door,
And swore I'd never love a man like that no more.
[MALE VOICE]
But you did.
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
Lord help me, I did.
[CHORUS – BOTH | broad, heavy, Southern gospel influence]
[MALE VOICE]
If I'm going down, baby, come with me,
Let the whole damn county hear our misery.
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
If you're going to Hell, then I'll ride that road,
I ain't leaving you alone with your heavy load.
[BOTH]
Let the church bells ring, let the wild dogs howl,
Let the preacher curse this outlaw vow.
We got no clean hands, no place to hide,
But I'll die loving you—
[MALE VOICE]
—and I'll die by your side.
[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK – 8 bars | dirty electric guitar, slide guitar, heavy bass]
[WOMAN'S VOICE – alone, almost fragile]
They say a woman should know when to run,
When a man's got a loaded gun.
But they never saw you kneel by my bed,
With tears in your eyes and blood on your hands.
[MALE VOICE – quiet answer]
I never deserved you.
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
No, you didn't.
[MALE VOICE]
But you stayed.
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
I stayed.
[BRIDGE – BOTH | Music is almost completely absent]
[MALE VOICE]
If tomorrow comes with a hangman's rope—
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
I'll hold your hand when they take your hope.
[MALE VOICE]
If the sheriff comes riding before the dawn—
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
I'll kiss your mouth when the night is gone.
[BOTH – slowly rising]
Ain't no angel gonna save our souls,
Ain't no preacher gonna make us whole.
But somewhere beneath this blood and bone,
We found a love we could call our own.
[FINAL CHORUS – BOTH | maximally emotional, raw, grand]
[MALE VOICE]
If I'm going down, baby, come with me—
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
I'll follow you down where the black rivers bleed.
[MALE VOICE]
If Hell opens wide, let it swallow us whole—
[WOMEN'S VOICE]
I'll keep your heart when they come for your soul.
[BOTH]
Let the church bells ring, let the wild dogs howl,
We're still standing undern